Blue Chip Partners LLC Acquires 2,299 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Blue Chip Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 358,791 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,299 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for approximately 1.9% of Blue Chip Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $18,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.8% during the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,693 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.6% during the third quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,686 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 19.3% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Benin Management CORP boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the third quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 37,543 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,018,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,587 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,967,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $47.86. 14,658,910 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,851,638. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.01. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.56 and a 12 month high of $58.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CSCO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Melius downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $150,130.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,579,865.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.